Lie on your back, and bend your knees. Feel your feet heavy on your mat, as well as your pelvis and shoulders. Feel your lower ribcage widening with each inhale.
Now reach your arms overhead, then circle them down to your hips. We’re trying to isolate the movement of our arms from the movement of our ribcages.
If you notice your ribcage popping when you reach your arms overhead, focus on your inhales widening your lower ribcage. Be sure that your pelvic floor is gently engaged as described in the breathing section.
Come to your stomach side, and feel long and heavy on your mat. Check in that your pelvis and spine are neutral by referring to your ASIS and pubic symphysis. Having a mirror at your side is handy to check in on your spinal curves! Feel heavy at your arms and legs. Gently engage your hip extensors to keep the front of your hips open. Feel long behind your neck. Reach the crown of your head away from your toes.
Think of rolling a marble away from your nose, so your chin moves a cm or so away from your chest. Gently retract your shoulder blades toward your spine. And begin to lift one vertebra at a time until only your lowest ribs are still heavy on the mat. Your pelvis and lumbar spine shouldn’t move here. We’re trying to isolate the extension at the ribcage from the lower back and pelvis. We also want to keep the neck in a continuous line with the ribcage vertebrae. Try to feel the muscles along the back of the ribcage lifting one rib up at a time.
Slowly return one rib down at a time onto your mat. Trying to roll through your vertebrae like placing a string of pearls back onto a table. Let your shoulder blades relax back down, and hover your nose over your mat.
Try repeating this ribcage extension exercise, using the lateral ribcage breathing. Inhaling up and exhaling down to neutral. notice if there’s any part of your ribcage or neck that isn’t moving as much and focus on the muscles around those areas on your lifts and lowers. It’s normal to find it tricky to extend the thoracic spine. This part of the spine is designed to be slightly rounded, unlike the lower back and neck. So it should be the hardest to extend.
good job! you're one step closer to performing more challenging core exercises safely!